Straits are strange. They’re either the calmest of waters or the deadliest. It’s best to avoid them.

-Excerpt from ‘The Ten Laws of the Sea’, author unknown

“A convergence? Don’t lie to me, Rose. That’s the stuff of legend. They aren’t real,” scoffed Felix. His legs dangled over the edge of the deck, between two railings.

Rose rested her head on her arms, looking out at the gentle waves. “It’s true. And not just any convergence. This one was breaching—that means it's about to explode, or something like that. We fought monsters and explored a blue forest. Seriously, everything was blue.”

Felix didn’t like being on a stolen ship with two pirates, but he had agreed not to cause any more trouble for the remainder of the journey. He refused to help them sail The Crown of Salt, on the grounds that if they couldn’t handle the frigate, they shouldn’t have stolen her.

Five days had passed since their reunion and it had been nothing but calm seas and tailwinds. It was a boring lull for Rose, who had been subjected to a lifetime’s worth of excitement and adventure in the space of a few weeks.

It wasn’t all bad. Having to sail the frigate with just the two of them had done wonders for her sailing skill. Along with the others she’d picked up during her heist Rose’s status was beginning to get crowded.

Name: Rose Everblue

Race: Human

Occupation: Apprentice Scholar 4

Title: Apprentice

Available Titles: Murderer, Apprentice

Skills: Cleaning 11, Reading 11, Fishing 14, Swimming 8, Writing 12, Butchery 6, Cooking 6, Herding 2, Focus 13, Drawing 11, Sailing 12, One Handed Weapons 5, Blades 7, Pistols 8, Firearms 4, Unarmed Combat 1, Endurance 3, Precision 4, Arcane Attunement 1, Light Attunement 3, Stealth 4, Athletics 7

Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision, Endless Inkwell, Quick Consumption, Knot my Problem

When she’d passed the level ten threshold and earned the first sailing trait, Rose had been thrown for a loop—the trait wasn’t what she had expected.

You have earned a new trait!

Knot my Problem: You learn new knots much faster than the average fellow. Once you learn how to tie a specific knot, you will never forget how to tie it. Any knot that you tie or rope you fasten will not become undone due to wear and tear, or natural causes.

Not that she disliked the trait. Being able to tie knots that never came undone was an incredibly useful skill to have on board a ship—she could think of far more nefarious uses too.

Another discovery was that her occupation would level up with the skills that formed it. She had continued writing in her ship’s log and gained a few more levels in reading and writing, which also brought Apprentice Scholar up to level four.

Her skills seemed to be increasing in level faster the higher she grew them—a curious paradox. The elders in Fairwater Bay often complained that it took them months or years just to earn a single level in their chosen skills once they pushed into the fifties and sixties, or beyond.

Perhaps when she reached that level she would see how her own skills were affected. By the standards of her home village she was already a common sense defying prodigy.

She almost fell over the railings when a huge fish tugged at her line, earning a roaring laugh from Felix. Rose made sure to slap him in the face with the slimy sucker when she reeled it in.

***

“Alright, it’s time. You made me risk my life and limb for that damned egg, Trent. I want an explanation,” Rose demanded.

“That would be a lot more threatening if you didn’t have fish juice dribbling down your chin, Rose,” giggled Felix.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The remark earned him a furious flick on the ear, leaving a red welt and a sour frown on the boy’s face.

All they had been eating for the week at sea was fish and the odd bit of kelp that floated past, but it had done wonders to hone her fishing and cooking. And the simple fare reminded her of her mother’s cooking.

“You’re right, dear Rose. It’s only fair I explain, but I have no doubt you’ll agree with my judgement when you hear what this baby does. However…” He drummed his fingers on the table for dramatic effect and she rolled her eyes. “Equal exchange. I want to see all the beautiful treasure you picked up. We’re a crew, after all.”

“That’s fair, Trent. You told me I’d need a blacksmith to make something with the antlers, but I also nabbed some of that nasty wolf. How does this all work?” she asked.

“All in good time. Let’s start with the Tidestone.” Trent raised a finger, tapping on the empty air. Halfway through a big smile lit up his face. “Better idea. Let’s start with this. I didn’t blow up that castle for nothing,” he chuckled.

In all the chaos, Rose had forgotten about Trent’s escapade. Not the dramatic leap from the cliff—that was a tale to tell the grandkids. It was the little bit of loot he’d picked up along the way. She hadn’t been paying much attention when he flashed her the whorl.

He’d brought it up again, for their benefit, but Rose was less interested in the fine print and more curious about the man’s missing arm.

While he was talking he’d also undressed the wound and she was shocked to see it fully healed after just a week. Definitely a regeneration skill. I need that. More than healed, in fact. The stump was larger than before by an inch or two!

There was no time for wallowing in shock. Trent had more tricks up his sleeve. Her eyes grew even wider and her jaw somehow fell even more agape when he drew the treasure from his inventory and let it tumble onto the dinner table.

“Is that what I think it is?” exclaimed Felix.

“That depends entirely on your line of thinking, dear boy,” replied Trent.

“Will it work as well as a real arm? It looks rather heavy.” Rose reached out a hand to stroke the sleek metallic arm.

Trent slapped her hand away. “No touching. This beauty is all mine.” He lifted the prosthetic with his remaining fleshy arm and it shimmered softly, a glittering blue hue that coated the entire work of art.

After prodding it in a few choice locations, three prongs of blue light shot out of the bulbous end and the plucky pirate jammed them into his stump without so much as a grimace.

The prosthetic whirred to life, the hum of magic audible over the gentle crashing of the waves. Oddly, there was no hand at the end—the limb ended in a flat lump of metal.

“Not to burst your bubble, but what was the point of going to all that trouble to steal a magic arm without a hand?”

The buccaneer’s trademark smirk twisted into a devilish grin. Both Felix and Rose leaned in, eager to hear his explanation. Trent also leaned in, raising a hand to his mouth as though about to impart a secret of magnanimous proportions.

A flash of blue light burst from the tip of Trent’s arm. A metallic screech made Felix leap backwards and fall off the bench. Rose was a little sturdier, managing to stay on the bench, but only by grabbing hold of the edge of the table.

Trent waved his arm around, now sporting a pulsating blade of blue light in place of a hand and cackling to himself. He thrust it at Felix, who did his best to squirm away.

“Back off, pirate bastard!”

“Alright, leave poor Felix alone. Having a sword at the ready all the time is awesome, if impractical. It’s certainly an improvement on the stump, though.” Rose had recovered from the initial shock and decided to actually read the whorl.

ARM (Assorted Radical Machinery) ★54

Arcane/Metal Aspect

A mechanical prosthetic arm forged from seasteel and powered by a tidestone. It can do everything a regular arm can, but better. Allows the user to summon arcane constructs using tide energy, though be warned—what you wish for is not always what you get.

Similar to the antlers she had harvested, the treasure had a name, level, aspect, and a description—though she didn’t understand most of it.

“Only level fifty-four?” That was only a little more than the crystal antlers had been before her failed attempts at harvesting them reduced it to thirty-three. A treasure was still a treasure—and this one was perfect for Trent.

“Do you see the little star next to the level?” asked Trent with a smirk.

“No way,” exclaimed Felix, leaping from the floor and hopping back onto the bench. “That scrap metal arm is Epipelagic?!”

“Wow, look at you go, rifle boy. You know your treasure grades,” said Trent, ruffling Felix’s hair.

“Hands off me, bastard. I’ll bring the rifle back out if you keep that up.” Despite his fearsome rebuke, his cheeks were rosy and there was a hint of a smile creeping onto his lips.

“What does Epi… I’m not even going to try. What does the star mean?” she asked.

“Everything offered by the tide caps at level one hundred. Skills, professions and even treasures. When it comes to professions, you have tiers like apprentice, journeyman and so on and so forth,” explained Trent.

He waited for her to nod before continuing. “Let’s say two people are both level one hundred in sailing. They’re both experts, who can handle a ship like their own body. However, one just reached that level yesterday while the other is a seasoned veteran who’s been at level one hundred for ten years. There’s a qualitative difference in skill. Except that’s not how the tide works. I’m about to blow your mind, dear Rose.”

She leaned even further across the table, waiting with bated breath.